Yes, mouse, the French upended the US style by banishing the unwanted masses to nasty tower blocks miles out from the tourist parts of their cities--envision filling Walnut Creek, and the rest of the burbs w/ vertical slums for the 'proles' while reserving the nicer areas closer to downtown SF for the well off. That said, there is NO excuse whether the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, or the banlieux not to maintain the buildings. We had a similar scandal of broken elevators in a Richmond HA slum a few years back. In any of these cases, there should be prison terms for the crooked managers.